


Someone Turn Us Around (Our Broken Hearts Smashed On the Floor)

by apatternedfever



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Abusive Parents, Abusive Relationships, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-20
Updated: 2013-06-20
Packaged: 2017-12-15 14:41:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/850727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apatternedfever/pseuds/apatternedfever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carolyn rationalizes, and rationalizes, until the day rationalizations aren't good enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someone Turn Us Around (Our Broken Hearts Smashed On the Floor)

Her last straw should have come before this. Carolyn is not a woman to let herself get pushed around; she shouldn't have stayed this long, shouldn't have let so many instances pass without saying anything.

But she's old, and she's tired, and she's been through one divorce and doesn't want to go through another. So she rationalizes. After all, Arthur will be better for the male influence, won't he? After all, what sort of jobs could she possibly be qualified for? After all, what will she have if she goes?

And if he yells at Arthur a little more often than she'd like, well, she can't deny that the boy is an idiot.

And if he yells at her almost all the time when they're alone, well, Carolyn can be rather abrasive, even towards her family.

And if he hits her, well, it's only now and again, only when she provokes him, and hasn't everyone always told her her smart mouth would get her in trouble one day?

But one day Gordon has a particularly bad day, and the whiskey he takes out of the liquor cabinet is particularly good, and Arthur is being particularly dense. Carolyn finds herself tending to and tutting over her son's bruises, muttering about the trouble Gordon is going to be in after he sobers up. Arthur just smiles up at her, though; that particularly innocent, soft smile that's like a stab to her chest when it's paired with his split lip.

"Don't worry, Mum. He's just angry," Arthur assures her. And then he adds, quietly, "It's my fault anyway."

And in the span of a skipped heartbeat, none of the excuses seem to be good enough anymore.


End file.
